


The Enthusiasm of a Child

by TheAsexualofSpades



Series: Quarantine Drabbles [22]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Papyrus is an insomniac, Sans taking care of papyrus, Tea, baby bones, falling asleep together, they're cute okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:40:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23667037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAsexualofSpades/pseuds/TheAsexualofSpades
Summary: Papyrus is an exuberant skeleton, which means he and 'sleep' don't always see eye to eye. Sans is here to help educate his brother on the ways of using the 'sleep.'
Relationships: Papyrus & Sans (Undertale)
Series: Quarantine Drabbles [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1677655
Comments: 2
Kudos: 46





	The Enthusiasm of a Child

**Author's Note:**

> i needed something short about sans helping papyrus sleep okay

Fandom: Undertale

Prompt: “How about something warm? It will help you sleep.”

* * *

There isn’t much in the Underground to do for an insomniac.

Sans sighs heavily, trudging after Papyrus running enthusiastically around the trees.

“SANS! YOU MUST COME AND SEE THIS NEW PUZZLE I HAVE CREATED!”

“sure bro,” Sans mutters, heaving himself off the snow pile, “but this is the last one, okay? it’s little skeletons’ time to be asleep.”

“I CAN’T SLEEP _NOW,_ SANS!” Papyrus jumps up and down next to a suspiciously organized pile of snow. “I HAVE PUZZLE EVALUATIONS TO COMPLETE!”

“bro, the puzzle will still be here in the morning.”

“BUT BY THEN IT WILL HAVE MELTED!”

“but that’s…” Sans looks down at his brother impatiently tapping his foot— “ _snow_ problem. you can just rebuild it, can’t ya?”

“NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR YOUR PUNS, SANS! YOU MUST HELP ME TEST MY PUZZLE!”

Sans sighs, looking it over. He can see what Papyrus is trying to do; create a maze for someone to walk through. It’s a great idea, and there are certainly a lot of twisting paths, but…

“WELL? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?” Papyrus pushes his brother forward. “GO ON! TRY IT OUT!”

“sure bro.”

Sans walks down the path right through the middle of the maze, a straight line from one end to the other.

“done.”

“SANS! YOU DIDN’T DO IT RIGHT!”

“whatcha mean, bro?” Sans gestures behind him. “i got from one end to the other, didn’t i?”

“YES, BUT— _“_

“come on, bro. you remember the deal. i check out the puzzle, then we go home.”

“I NEVER AGREED TO THAT!”

“pap,” Sans sighs, “come on. we can go home and you can get ready for all the puzzling tomorrow. plus, ain’t it a good idea to leave and think about it? you’ll come back with a new perspective.”

Papyrus drums his phalanges against his teeth. “I SEE THAT IS CORRECT…”

“great. come on, bro. let’s go home.”

The feeling of Papyrus’ much smaller hands laced through his own lifts the weight of Sans’ chest, the hyperactive young skeleton letting himself run only as far as their combined arm length will let him. Which really isn’t that far. They walk back through Snowdin, Papyrus doing his equivalent of a whisper so as not to disturb the dark windows and closed doors.

“SANS…”

“yeah, bro?” Sans helps Papyrus get all of his thick coats and boots off by the door.

“I KNOW IT IS LITTLE SKELETONS’ SLEEP TIME, BUT…” Papyrus looks up at him with his eyelights wide. “I AM NOT TIRED.”

“you’ve been runnin’ bro.”

“BUT WE WALKED ALL THE WAY BACK HOME?”

“not what i meant.” Sans guides Papyrus to the couch, sitting him down and perching on the floor next to him. “i mean you’ve been awake, usin’ that big brain of yours for a while. ’s gonna take a minute before it stops chugging away up there. nothin’ to be sorry about.”

“OH.” Papyrus fidgets with the end of his scarf. “BUT WHAT WILL I DO UNTIL THEN?”

“why don’t we have you drink something,” Sans suggests.

“OH OKAY. HYDRATION IS VERY IMPORTANT.”

“sure is, bro.”

“BUT WHAT SHOULD I HAVE?”

“how about something warm? it will help you sleep.”

Papyrus perks up. “TEA?”

Sans chuckles. “of course, bro.”

“CAN I HELP?”

“you,” Sans says, standing up and patting Papyrus’ head, “are busy with letting yourself get tired.”

“OH, RIGHT!”

Leaving Papyrus on the couch, Sans goes to the kitchen to start boiling the water. The tea box is crumpled from Papyrus’ enthusiastic grip and the cardboard is worn from the water damage, but the tea bags inside are unscathed. Sans plops one in a perfectly Papyrus sized mug and waits a few minutes.

“how’s it coming?”

“I AM…TIRED.”

Sans takes in Papyrus’ rigid posture and tight grip on his scarf. “uh huh. sure bro. here.”

“TEA!”

“hang on, bro it’s—“

Papyrus gleefully takes a large sip of the tea only for his cheeks to flush bright orange. “OW.”

“—hot.”

“I HAVE FIGURED THAT OUT TOO.”

Drinking takes Papyrus’ mind off of his rigorous task of becoming tired. Sans watches his brother take slower sips of the tea, brow ridges drooping. Sans hides a smile, not an easy thing for him to do. Papyrus looks so young right now. Which is how he should be.

“…SANS I AM NOW MORE TIRED.”

“good, bro.” Sans picks up the little lump of bones curled around the mug and curries him upstairs. “come on then.”

“SANS?”

“yeah, bro?” Sans shuffles Papyrus around until he gets him tucked snugly into his bed.

“CAN I HAVE A HUG?”

“of course, bro.”

Sans tucks Papyrus into his arms, wrapping his hoodie around his brother, giving him a cuddle. Papyrus snuggles right back, nuzzling into the fuzzy lining of the hood.

“are you gonna fall asleep on me, bro?”

His only answer is the muffled snores coming from his shoulder.

“alright then.”

He wraps his arms more securely around Papyrus and shifts the lie down on his back. He’s not going anywhere, not that he minds.

There’s not much to do in the Underground for an insomniac except help him sleep. Sans doesn’t mind.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Come yell at me on tumblr while we're all in quarantine. 
> 
> https://a-small-batch-of-dragons.tumblr.com/


End file.
